Iron Man 3 has already grossed over a billion dollars. Pulling in roughly $285 million here in the states, it’s overseas that Iron Man 3 has been a real hit. International sales have passed $664 million dollars. Iron Man premiered a week early overseas, and it played in 79% of the foreign markets. In its first weekend internationally, it grossed over $198 million, beating the Avengers record. Domestically, Iron Man had the second biggest opening weekend ever bringing in $174 million, behind the Avengers ($204 million). But, despite the massive numbers, Iron Man 3 has been met with incredibly mixed reviews.

Marvel and Disney are raking in a fortune with these superhero movies, and now the heroes want a bigger piece of the pie. Iron Man actor, Robert Downey Jr. is currently renegotiating with Disney. He’s not the only actor wanting a larger pay day, many of the Avengers actors are seeking to renegotiate before signing on for Avengers 2. While the cast is seeking more money from the movies, director Joss Whedon has posted a blog on his site to correct some misinformation about his own payday for the Avengers.

I was going to let it slide, but I’ve got this sour taste in my mouth. (Mmmm, lemonade!). Some facts are not facts. I’m not going to go into the whole thing, but jeepers, I’m not getting $100 mil on Avengers 2. If I were, I would come on this site and laugh and laugh and laugh. I’m not making Downey money. I’m making A LOT, which is exciting. I’m not pretending to be a poor farmer, an Everyman, an ANYman. But that number is nuts. A few other things about me that have been “reported” that people should take with a grain of salt:

That I throw wild Hollywood parties where everyone is naked and dancing and wild and I remember to serve enough snacks.

That I can get a movie greenlit by sighing and staring into the middle distance.

That I ate a unicorn and made it winter for three years.

That I “can write.”

Well, that’s a load off. Sorry to get so personal — the whole thing’s a bit tawdry. But honestly, it bugged me. I’m off for a nice juicy steak. There’s a place downtown that does it with rosemary butter, it tastes just like unico — like a steak.

BYE-ee! J.

Avengers 2 might be having some negotiating trouble with old members, but Marvel’s plans moving forward also include a new lineup. Rumor is that Whedon is seeking to write the Scarlet Witch and her twin brother Quicksilver in to Avengers 2, and there are whispers that Marvel is looking to cast Saoirse Ronan in the role of Scarlet Witch. Whether Saoirse gets the part or not, the helps to give us an idea of the kind of actress they have in mind.

A new trailer for Thor: The Dark World has been released as Marvel moves forward with their ‘Phase 2’. Thor 2 premiers in November of this year. Captain America is the next movie up after Thor, and Captain America will be joined by some classic heroes for the journey. Anthony Mackie will be playing the Falcon and is set to be in more than half the movie. Robert Redford will also be filling a major role as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Alexander Pierce. The most exciting rumor of Marvel’s casting during ‘Phase 2’ however, is that the tenth Doctor Who, David Tennant may be cast as the gun blazing master tactician Rocket Raccoon.

As Doctor Who moves toward their 50th Anniversary, a new executive producer has been found for the show. Brian Minchin, who has worked in the past on the UK Torchwood, will be taking the role of executive producer, working alongside show frontrunner Steven Moffat.

Ender’s Game is moving into theaters on the first of November this year. The first full length trailer for the movie has been released and is appropriately narrated by Harrison Ford. The film was directed by Gavin Hood and stars Asa Butterfield as the title character, Ender.

Comedy Central has a new late night talk show starring the Nerdists’ Chris Hardwick. The show is being co-produced by Funny or Die and will be filling the air slot immediately after The Colbert Report.

Star Wars: Episode VII is set to hit theaters in 2015. It has been confirmed that the film will focus on the next generation of the Skywalker and Solo families. Mark Hamill has been in talks to reprise his role as Luke Skywalker in the upcoming movies. Hamill mentioned that he has talked in depth with Lucas about this and has been told that if the original actors don’t reprise their roles, they won’t be recast, but instead they would be written out of the story. It doesn’t look like that will be the case though as Harrison Ford has been confirmed to be reprising the part of Han Solo in Episode VII.

In case three more episodes of Star Wars weren’t enough, Disney is planning on releasing Star Wars spin-off solo adventures. The spin-off stories will allow them to establish character backgrounds and lore that wouldn’t make it into the main movie. Everyone’s favorite mini Jedi Master, Yoda, will be taking the first solo movie. That’s not all though, both young Han Solo and Boba Fett are set to receive solo films as well. There is no word on when Disney plans to start releasing these movies or what kind of movies they will be; I could see them being computer animated movies done by Disney or Pixar.

After much speculation, Entertainment Weekly may have officially confirmed and spoiled the identity of Benedict Cumberbatch’s character in Star Trek: Into Darkness. In an article they posted the title: “Voyage Into the New Star Trek Kirk & Khan.” The title was changed to exclude the final names, but it hit the internet that way and there are plenty of screen shots to prove it. It looks like all the Khan rumors were true and Cumberbatch will be reprising the role of the iconic villain.

Between directing Star Wars and Star Trek, J.J. Abrams life has to be getting pretty busy. He is now looking at taking on another dynamic project. J.J. Abrams and Valve games studios are in talks to see if they can do Portal and Half-Life movies. Half-Life and its spin-off Portal are both award winning games made by Valve. The games are story driven, so there is movie potential for both titles. But does J.J. Abrams really have the time to take on yet another project?

The Avengers cast assembled at the Oscars to present the awards for Cinematography and Visual Effects. Avengers only received one Oscar nomination in the Visual Effects category, which they then had to present to Life of Pi. Still the Avengers legacy lives on as Marvel moves into ‘Phase 2’ and S.H.I.E.L.D. series begins filming. Marvel’s Agent M gave us our first sneak peak of the S.H.I.E.L.D. set, although it’s mostly a tease.

One of the newest Iron Man 3 posters shows Sir Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin with his ten rings of power. Some leaked concept art has revealed more suit designs for Iron Man and also gives possible spoilers for later movies. The first suit is Tony’s new ‘Space Armor’ designed specifically for going back into space. The second concept art was for the ‘Hulkbuster Armor’ a set of Armor specifically designed to fight Hulk. Could the Avengers sequel have Hulk as a villain or at least an Iron Man and Hulk showdown? Speculation aside, in a recent interview Iron Man 3 writer Shane Black gave some spoilers about the after credits scene. Apparently, at the end of the movie, Tony will receive an SOS from Star-Lord creating the first tie in for the Guardians of the Galaxy. He will then head off into space, saying this time he is ready with his Space Armor.

Batman has had a rough year in the DC New 52 comic universe. First, he fought his way through the Night of the Owls just to have to deal with Joker’s return in Death of the Family. Though no one in the family actually died as the Death of the Family story arc drew to an end, the Joker successfully pulled at the strings of distrust and tore the Bat-family apart. However, just because no one died during the Death of the Family event, that doesn’t mean the Bat-family is safe. Last week, in Batman Incorporated #8, Damian Wayne, the current Robin, was murdered. His death is reminiscent of the death of Jason Todd, except most comic fans bet that Damian Wayne will take after his mother’s side and end up resurrected in the Lazarus Pit within the year.

On the horror side of things, the Evil Dead remake is set to arrive in theaters on April 12 this year. A new all red poster for the film was released, that promises it will be the ‘most terrifying movie you will every experience’. A new Red Band trailer was released for the film as well that teases a horrifying return to the cult classic, demon rape trees included.

The Zombieland television series is picking up some steam, and some cast members while they’re at it. The kids in the movie have been cast. Tyler Ross will play the part of Columbus and Izabela Vidovic has been cast as Little Rock. That’s not all, Maiara Walsh will be playing the role of Wichita. The series is currently being produced for Amazon as an original series.

Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes are back at it with their new Jay & Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie. The movie was directed by Steve Stark, who Smith and Mewes met online. The entire project cost just $69,000. They are planning on taking the movie on tour the same way Smith toured Red State. The Super Groovy Cartoon Movie is coming this April.

Finally, there are a lot of ‘How It Should Have Ended” videos out there, but the nerd Generalissimo Stan Lee has declared how a few nerd favorites should have really concluded. Not only is this one of the best Stan’s Rants yet, but you would be hard pressed to find a nerd that disagrees with him.

The biggest news of the month is that J.J. Abrams, director of the recent Star Trek films, is now set to take us to a galaxy far far away. Disney has signed Abrams on to direct the 2015 Star Wars: Episode VII. While many fans were thrilled to hear this news, there are those who fear this move crosses the streams. Either way, the internet is already being plagued with bad jokes about light sabers and lens flares.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation was abruptly delayed last year, but you can now catch a four minute preview of the movie in theaters. There’s a four minute 3D preview at the start of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. The teaser is just a taste of things to come when the movie releases on March 29.

More information is coming out about the 2015 Justice League movie. It looks like only five members have made the final cut, and it’s just about who everyone would expect. Superman, Batman, the Green Lantern, the Flash, and Wonder Woman are rumored to be the core group of heroes. There is still a slight chance Aquaman or the Martian Manhunter could make an appearance, but most likely only as cameos. The one hero with the least possibility of making a cameo appearance would be Hawkman.

The Batman franchise is DC’s hottest property, and there has been talk of rebooting the series since before Christopher Nolan had a chance to even wrap up his trilogy. Now that Nolan’s Batman series has ended, DC and Warner Bros. are working Batman into their upcoming Justice League movie. Whispers of a series reboot haven’t gone away, though. Batman On Film speculates that the Batman series reboot could be in theaters as early as 2017.

Sequel to X-Men: First Class, the X-Men: Days of Futures Past will be following one of the most famous X-Men comic story arcs. The comic storyline involves an older Kitty Pride from a dystopic future transferring her consciousness to her past self to stop the events that lead to the Sentinels hunting down the mutants. This being the case, director Bryan Singer has the opportunity to combine the characters from the 1960’s storyline in X-Men: First Class with the original X-Men trilogy. Both Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart signed on to play the elder counterparts of Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy. Now, Singer has announced that three more members from the cast of the original X-Men trilogy have joined the fray. Appeasing comic fans everywhere, Ellen Page as Kitty Pride was one of those three. The other two returning characters are Anna Paquin as Rogue and Shawn Ashmore as Iceman. Days of Future Past is set to hit theaters on July 18, 2014.

Marvel may just be entering their ‘Phase 2’, but they are already planning for the future beyond that. Guardians of the Galaxy is the only new title being released during Phase 2, the rest being sequels. Marvel plans to expand their properties during ‘Phase 3’ and have confirmed that both the long awaited Edgar Wright Ant-Man movie and the Doctor Strange film Stan Lee has been pushing to have made for years are on the docket. Kevin Feige noted that Phase 3 is when things are going to get strange, which means who knows what else Marvel has in store for us once they wrap up their current cinematic ventures.

The CW’s Arrow keeps adding classic DC icons to the show’s lineup. To make things even better, many of the actors they have chosen to go with have other sci-fi and nerd roots. John Barrowman who plays Malcom Merlyn on Arrow and Captain Jack on Doctor Who and its spinoff Torchwood is now being joined by another former Doctor Who cast member, Alex Kingston, who played the Doctor’s wife, River Song. Kingston will be playing the part of Laurel Dinah Lance’s mother on Arrow. Kingston isn’t the only new addition. Spartacus actor Manu Bennett has been cast in the major role of Slade Wilson. Wilson’s alter ego, Death Stroke, has already appeared on the show, but it looks like Manu Bennett will be the man behind the orange and blue mask.

I don’t think anyone would disagree that we could replace some of these teenage vampire shows on television with more zombie action. Walking Dead is one of the best shows on, but it alone doesn’t satisfy my craving for brain eaters. Well it looks like we may all be in luck. After being passed up by CBS and Syfy, Amazon is in negotiations to distribute a Zombieland TV show via its streaming platform. Better yet, director of acclaimed B-movie Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Eli Craig is in talks to direct the series.

Finally, Doctor Who fans can now get back to their roots, since BBC America will being airing classic episodes of the show. They are going through the Doctors in order, airing a serial special each month. They have already begun with the four-part serial, “The Aztecs” that aired last weekend.

A new batch of photos from Star Trek: Into Darkness have been released. While we’ll all have to wait until May 15 to see the full movie, in a heartwarming act of compassion, J.J. Abrams and Paramount arranged for Star Trek fan Dan Craft, who served as the director of the New York Asian Film Festival and was dying of cancer, to see the film on his deathbed. He had a expressed a desire to see the nine minute Star Trek preview, but instead he was allowed to watch a rough cut of the entire movie on DVD. Craft passed away earlier this week, his final words were: “I’m going… into the future.”

This year is the Doctor Who 50th anniversary bash. The BBC has announced that as part of the celebration they will be releasing eleven short stories written by beloved children’s authors set in the Doctor Who universe. No authors are confirmed, yet, but at the top of the assumed list is J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series. Each of the eleven authors will write one story about one of the eleven Doctors. The first short story will be out at the end of the month, and the book will be available in November.

Joss Whedon is back behind the camera and filming the pilot for the S.H.I.E.L.D. television series for ABC. Whedon is currently working on both the pilot and the sequel to the Avengers movie. He mentioned that he wants to spend as much time on the show as possible, but he needs to maintain balance between the projects. While the Avengers sequel is his number one priority, Whedon is confident that he has enough people he trusts to take care of the S.H.I.E.L.D. show. There is not a set release date for the pilot, but you can count on seeing it sometime next fall.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be coming out on April 4, 2014, but not everyone is returning. Hayley Atwell played Peggy Carter in the first Captain America, but she confirmed she will not be in the sequel. Winter Soldier will take place in the present day so her character would be older, if in the movie at all. This also means we shouldn’t expect to see her in flashbacks, unless they were directly from the first movie. It is likely that the character Sharon Carter will replace Peggy Carter as the love interest in the upcoming film.

Possible character details from the 2015 Justice League movie have been released. If an inside source is correct, the movie will follow Gerry Conway’s 1980 Justice League of America story arc from issues 183-185. The main team will consist of: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman. Both Alfred Pennyworth and Lois Lane are listed as having cameos. While the notes don’t mention if Batman will be linked to the Dark Knight series, most sources believe not. The source does mention Superman is being written like the incarnation in Man of Steel, with a little help from Zack Snyder who is consulting. It looks like Green Lantern will be Ryan Reynold’s character, with a complete revamp. Also, the Wonder Woman script is in development currently as well, and will be set before the Justice League movie. Assuming this information is correct, the Justice League film will not only be more tied in to past DC movie continuity than previously expected, but it will also be a very elaborate venture requiring several rewrites to tie in anticipated sequels.

There are a lot of questions floating around about the upcoming Star Wars movies. A few actors have spoken up about returning to the film. Samuel L. Jackson wants to work on the movie in some way. Since his character died, he said he’d be happy returning as a hologram. Ewan McGreggor also spoke up saying he’d return if needed. It looks like the only person not getting in on the project is George Lucas. Lucas described his hands off consulting role as being something of a Star Wars encyclopedia.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey comes out this Friday, but some lucky folks in New Zealand have already had the chance to enjoy it. However, there are complaints that the innovative 48fps format that Jackson used is causing nausea for some. Jackson fought to bring 48fps to theaters, so we’ll have to wait until The Hobbit is released worldwide to know the extent of problems the high frame rate will cause. While the first Hobbit film isn’t out just yet, the first still from the second movie The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was release via EW.

Back in September, the CW announced they were going to film a Wonder Woman pilot. An in depth character bio has been released. Despite Wonder Woman being referred to as Iris, pilot script writer Allan Heinberg tweeted it was just a code name. There have been a few failed attempts at bringing the Amazonian Princess back to TV. Let’s hope the CW do as well with Wonder Woman as they did with Smallville and Arrow.

The Justice League movie isn’t set to hit theaters until 2015, but reports that Darkseid will be the major movie villain have ht the internet. Thanos was the hand controlling Loki throughout the Avengers, so it’s fitting that the Justice League would face off against what could considered DC’s counterpart to Thanos. Whether Darkseid will battle the JSA on his own or be using pawns is still unknown.

Joss Whedon has handed in his outline for Avengers 2. Marvel’s Phase 2 will officially begin in 2013. If everything goes right, the S.H.I.E.L.D. series will premier next year. ABC President Paul Lee is excited about the series. He said, “It’s very Joss Whedon,” which should only be taken as a good thing.

Some huge news for X-Men fans. The sequel to X-Men: First Class has two new cast members: both Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen will be in the movie. Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy have also signed up. They may need them for a classic X-Men time travel story or perhaps a snapshot of the future.

It’s a sad week for Batgirl fans. Long time DC writer Gail Simone has been fired from the Batgirl book – via email! Simone wrote Batgirl for the New 52 after lengthy runs on Birds of Prey, Secret Six, and Wonder Woman. The graphic novel of her first story arc, which brought back Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, landed at No. 4 on the New York Times graphic books bestsellers list. Simone pushed boundaries with her characters, and had plans for a new transgender character that are now being scrapped. This upsetting news came just a week after Karen Berger stepped down as Executive Editor of DC’s Vertigo brand.

It’s that time of year, everyone is releasing their Best of 2012 lists. Spike TV hosted their Video Game Awards last week. While they certainly aren’t the Oscars, they’re the biggest name in video game awards right now. Out of the winners, there were some upsets. Borderlands 2 took Best Shooter and Call of Duty: Black Ops II didn’t win anything. The Walking Dead took the Game of the Year title. NerdBastards did an excellent job assembling all the amazing trailers from the show.

Kevin Smith announced he was leaving the movie game with his film, Hit Somebody. Well it turns out that might not be the case. The film was originally one movie, then two movies, and now it is back to one movie or perhaps a miniseries. That being the case, Smith is looking at leaving the movie business the way he came into it. He is now just waiting on Jeff Anderson to sign on so he can make his last cinematic creation, Clerks III.

The market for digital movies has grown a lot in recent years. While there are several choices for getting your films online, most of them seem to be equivalent to each other. That is until Netflix signed an exclusive deal to stream Disney. It means you will soon find all your childhood favorites on Netflix. Some movies have already been uploaded including Alice in Wonderland and Nightmare Before Christmas.

Paramount has just released a poster for the much anticipated new Star Trek film, Into Darkness. Cast members reprising roles from the 2009 J.J. Abrams-helmed Enterprise voyage include Chris Pine (Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Karl Urban (Bones), Simon Pegg (Scotty), John Cho (Sulu), and Zoe Saldana (Uhura). The most notable newcomer seems to be Benedict Cumberbatch, from the critically acclaimed UK TV series Sherlock, who is rumored to be playing Khan, a role that was originally played by Ricardo Montalbán in the ’60s TV series and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan film. The Enterprise will head Into Darkness in theaters on May 17, 2013.

Many Marvel movie fans will be pleased to hear the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled box set has received a new release date. Marvel ran into a problem with the original suitcase the set comes in when a German manufacturer filed a suit. Those who have waited despite the delay will be rewarded with first look teaser material for Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Guardians of the Galaxy. The box set is now releasing on April 2, 2013.

The CW’s new show Arrow adds yet another member from the DC comic family to the series this week. The Huntress, Helena Bertinelli, will make her debut this Wednesday. So far, there have been appearances by Deadshot, Deathstroke, and the Royal Flush Gang. It looks like Huntress will be the first hero to join the crew, although she will likely start off as an anti-hero/villain.

Peter Parker has been Spider-Man since his first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15. While Miles Morales took over in Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man, Peter Parker has remained Spider-Man in the Amazing Spider-Man series. That might all be coming to an end. (Spoilers ahead, if you need to catch up on the comics skip down.) In the final issues leading up to the release of Marvel Now’s Superior Spider-Man #1, Doc Ock has taken over Peter’s mind and body. Amazing Spider-Man #698 sold out and has gone to second printing. In a tweet from writer Dan Slott (supposedly meant to be a direct message), it may have been revealed that Miguel O’Hara, Spider-Man from Spider-Man 2099 will be taking over in Marvel Now’s Superior Spider-Man. Some are calling the tweet a red herring meant to mislead fans. What do you think? Is it time for Peter Parker to step down or will he always be Spider-Man?

In case you missed out on reading the book growing up or just want to check to make sure the film story lives up to it, the synopsis for the Ender’s Game film has been released. For those who have been worried about the project, the synopsis is dead on. Ender’s Game releases in theaters on November 1, 2013.

It may have been Thanos who was teased at the end of The Avengers, but it looks like he won’t be the only threat in Avengers 2. An incarnation of the The Masters of Evil is rumored to join forces for the sequel. Perhaps Thanos will be finished off in The Guardians of the Galaxy or while leading the Masters of Evil in the Avengers 2. The sequel isn’t out until 2015 so there is a lot that could change before then.

In the meantime, part of the story for Captain America: The Winter Soldier has been revealed. The second movie will feature flashbacks that shed light on the mysterious Black Widow and her relationship with the Winter Soldier. The film will be released April 2014.

The latest photos from the set of Thor: The Dark World have given the first glimpse of film villain Malekith the Accursed and his army of Dark Elves. Videos from the set shows the filming of the fight between Thor and Malekith. Thor: the Dark World is set to release November 8, 2013.

One of the original members of the Avengers might be joining the team in Iron-Man 3. Rumor has it Stephanie Szostak will be playing The Wasp. The Wasp was not only one of the original members, she was the first female on the team (sorry Black Widow fans). Iron-Man 3 releases May 3, 2013.

Shooting for Amazing Spider-Man 2 will begin in February. The film is still in the casting phase, and it looks like they are down to a shortlist of three actors for the part of Harry Osborne. Brady Crobet (Melancholia), Dane DeHaan (Chronicle), and Alden Ehrenreich (Beautiful Creatures) are left in the running. Amazing Spider-Man 2 is scheduled to release May 2014.

The Avengers might have been the top grossing movie of the year, but it’s The Dark Knight Rises that is going for the Oscars. Warner. Bros is campaigning the Academy to consider the film for 16 different categories. The Hobbit is also campaigning to be considered for 16 awards.

The season finale of the Walking Dead will introduce another fan favorite character from the comics. The current rumor is that they will be bringing in Tyreese, the former NFL linebacker. Find out for sure on December 2 when it airs.

Star Trek: Into Darkness is set for release on May 17, 2013. Zachary Quinto will be reprising the role of Spock in the film, but possibly for the last time. Quinto suggested he might leave the franchise after the upcoming film in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. He doesn’t suggest that the character is being killed off, so who could be the next Spock?